Algae and Cyanobacteria in Extreme Environments

ISBN-13: 9781402061110 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 813 str.

Joseph Seckbach

Opis

Algae and Cyanobacteria in Extreme Environments is a unique collection of essays, contributed by leading scientists from around the world, devoted to algae and some related microbes observed in unexpected harsh habitats, which it seems are an oasis or Garden of Eden for these organisms. This timely book on Extremophilic algae, including its especially impressive micrographs, may provide clues about the edges of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the universe. Defining locations from the anthropomorphic point of view, the environments explored ranges from severe and distant to normal places. The algae discussed, microbial oxygenic phototrophs, are classified into various categories according to their habitats. They thrive in various temperature ranges, at the limits of pH values, in salt solutions, under UV radiation, dryness, heavy metals, anaerobic niches, under various levels of illuminations, and under hydrostatic pressure. Authors discuss bio-diversely algal territories ecologically the hot springs with the thermophiles or acido-thermophiles; Antarctica, the Arctic, and permafrost zones with their cold lovers (Psychrophiles); soda lakes with the alkaliphiles, saltine areas with halophiles. In addition to general essays, Algal species discussed in detail include diatoms, Cyanidium, Galdieria, Dunaliella, and Chroococcidiopsis. This volume is a must for students of the field of biodiversity, as well as those in phycology, ecology and general biological research."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"The algae are a remarkably successful group, accounting for the oxygen we breathe and responsible for the greater part of carbon and nitrogen fixation. They are found almost anywhere ... from freshwater to brine and from the deserts to the great oceans. How they function in such extraordinary conditions is the subject of this book. ... the book's main readership will be phycologists and ecologists ... . This is a very useful book ... ." (Mark Burgess, Biochemist e-Volution, April, 2009)

Spis treści

Foreword, Richard Castenholz. Preface, Joseph Seckbach. Introduction to the algal world, Meltem Conk-Dalay. Acknowledgement, Joseph Seckbach. List of Authors and addresses. PART 1: General Introduction Oxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms in extreme environments: possibilities and limitation, Joseph Seckbach and Aharon Oren. PART 2: Phototrophs at high and low light Effects of ultraviolet radiation on cyanobacteria and their protective mechanisms, Bagmi Pattanaik, Rhena Schumann and Ulf Karsten. The hidden life of algae underground, Werner Reisser. Meromictic lakes as habitats for protists: life in the chemocline and below?, Dag Kaveness and Finn Løvhøiden. Marine phototrophs in the twilight zone, Noga Stambler and Zvy Dubinsky. PART 3: Phototrophs in the marine environment Biology of the chlorophyll D-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, Michael Kühl, Min Chen and A.W.D. Larkum. Phylogenetics, molecular biology and ecological impacts of a group of highly unusual protists: the dinoflagellates, Shauna Murray. Diatoms: Living in a contructal environment, Frithjof Sterrenburg, Richard Gordon, Mary Ann Tiffany and Stephen Nagy. The margin of the sea: survival at the top of the tides, David Garbary. Seaweeds on the abrasion platforms of the intertidal zone of eastern Mediterranean shores, Rachel Einav and Alvaro Israel. Status of mangrove ecosystem: exploring the potential role of cyanobacteria in restoration and afforestation, M. Sundaraman, T. Boopathi and S. Gopinath. Intertidal sandy flatsas a habitat where plastid acquisition processes are ongoing, Noriko Okomota and Isao Inouye. Hydrochemical key to the genesis of calcareous non-laminated and laminated cyanobacterial microbialites, Stephan Kempe and Jósef Kazamierczak. Soil and freshwater micro-algae as a food source for invertebrates in extreme environments, Alena Lukešová and Jan Frouz. PART 4: Phototrophs in cold environments Cold tolerance in cyanobacteria and life in the cryosphere, Warwick Vincent. Cyanobacteria in Antarctic lake environments: a mini-review, Shiv M. Singh and Josef Elster. Green cryosestic algae, Jirí Komárek and Linda Nedbalova. Psychrophilic diatoms: mechanisms for survival in freeze-thaw cycles, Thomas Mock and Karen Junge. Algae at extreme low temperatures: the cryobank, Erica Bensen, Keith harding and John Day. PART 5: Phototrophs in hot alkaline and acidic environments and non-thermal acidic habitats Cyanidiophyceae: looking back - looking forward, Gabriele Pinto. Diversity of the cosmopolitan thermophile mastigocladus laminosus at global, regional and local scales, Scott Miller. The thermophilic cyanobacteria of the zerka ma’in thermal springs in Jordan, Danny Ionescu, Aharon Oren, Muna Hindiyeh and Hanan Malkawi. Iron-tolerant cyanobacteria: implications for astrobiology, Igor Brown, Carlton Allen, Daniel Mummey, Svetlana Sarkisova and David McKay. Extreme acidophiles: freshwater algae associated with acid mine drainage, Phil Novis and Jon Harding . Eukaryotic community structure from Río Tinto (SW, Spain), a highly acidic river, Angeles Aguilera, Linda Amaral-Zettler,

Blurb

ALGAE AND CYANOBACTRIA IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS is a unique collection of essays, contributed by leading scientists from around the world, devoted to algae – and some related microbes – observed in unexpected harsh habits, which it seems are an oasis or Garden of Eden for these organisms. This timely book on Extremophilic alga, including its especially impressive micrographs, may provide clues about the edges of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the universe.

Defining locations from the anthropomorphic point of view, the environments explored ranges from severe and distant to "normal" places. The algae discussed, microbial oxygenic phototrophs, are classified into various categories according to their habitats. They thrive in various temperature ranges, at the limits of pH values, in salt solutions, under UV radiation, dryness, heavy metals, anaerobic niches, under various levels of illuminations, and under hydrostatic pressure. Authors discuss bio-diversely algal territories ecologically – the hot springs with the thermophiles or acido-thermophiles; Antarctica, the Artic, and permafrost zones with their cold lovers (Psychrophiles); soda lakes with the alkaliphiles, saltine areas with halophiles. In addition to general essays, Algal species discussed in detail include diatoms, Cyanidium, Galdieria, Dunaliella, and Chroococcidiopsis.

This volume is a must for students of the field of biodiversity, as well as those in Phycology, ecology and general biological research.